Cheshire tech firm Nanoco is predicting breakeven by 2025 as the delivery of its first commercial order spurred a £2m profit in its latest HY results.
Revenues at the Manchester University spinout, which develops materials used in the manufacture of monitors and TV screens and technologies for medical imaging, rose from £1.562m to £3.956m from the previous year, while the pre-tax profit of £2.091m was a turnround from a pre-tax loss of £2.334m the prior year.
In November 2023, Nanoco completed the shipment of two first-generation materials for use in infra-red sensing applications in electronic devices. In the same month, a two-year agreement was signed with an Asian chemical supplier to global electronics supply chains to enhance another high performing sensing material, while in January this year, a joint development agreement was signed with STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader, to optimise the performance of a second-generation sensing material over a two-year period.
Nanoco also retured £33m to shareholders during the HY, money from its $150m intellectual property litigation payout from electronics giant Samsung. A share buyback programme is now under way.
Retained funds from the legal payout are to be invested in operational capability, enhancing future growth prospects, and improving gross margins.
Nanoco says it will be debt-free by the end of fiscal year 2024, ans will achieve cash breakeven during calendar year 2025.
CEO Brian Tenner said: “Delivering our first ever commercial orders was a huge achievement for the whole Nanoco team.
“Sales volumes of first generation materials are expected to grow gradually over time to deliver a cash breakeven position during CY25. Adoption of the technology in mobile phones would lead to further significant growth.
He added: “Our current two global customers – both leading suppliers to the electronics industry – are a testament to Nanoco’s leadership in novel nanomaterials.
“Our key display and sensing IP was emphatically validated in the recent Samsung litigation. The new second generation materials under development will deliver significant performance improvements to open up new applications in automotive and dynamic image capture. All of our materials form part of our ‘platform technology’, being adaptable to a wide range of markets, applications and form factors.
“We are pleased to be returning £33m of value to shareholders while retaining funds for the compelling use cases we have previously outlined. Having spent five years fighting for financial survival, we have now been able to make some cautious but important strategic investments in new capabilities and our resilience as a supply chain partner.
“These will accelerate our development plans and commercial progress, as well as allowing us to self-fund IP licensing efforts. The combination of a fully funded business with commercial traction is a strong foundation on which to build.”
